CONNECTING MEMORY, SELF, AND THE POWER OF PLACE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN URBAN HISTORY. |
| Author: |
Lewis, Earl.
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| Author Background: |
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| Date |
1/1/95
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| Type |
Journal
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| Journal Title: |
Journal of Urban History
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| Volume/Pages |
21(3)p.347-371
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| Publisher |
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| Subject Matter |
African American
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| Population |
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| Pedagogies |
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| Abstract |
As interviews with African Americans in Norfolk, Virginia, suggest, people focus on specific memories and not abstractions when they try to come to terms with their lives. Considered in thecontext of the urbanization of American blacks during the first half of the 20th century, the reinterpretation of place as cultural home rather than geographic location allows urban historiansto tap into the nexus between personal memories and broader social forces in African-American history. When African Americans moved away from the rural South, they constructed new homesin their minds that naturally included crucial Southern components. Categories such as race and class were available, but were porous and complex, not rigid and clearly defined. Scholarsneed to recognize and ponder the inevitable impact of their own memories and perspectives on their work as they proceed.
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